Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille — Restaurant in Sanibel

PEOPLE WITH ALLERGIES -BEWARE. I am allergic to all kinds of pepper that are even mildly "hot". (Black, white, jalapeno, chilis, etc) I read the menu carefully- Jalapeños and chili's were mentioned several times with different entrees, either as fresh or in sauces. According to the menu it did not sound like they were deep fried OR put on their grill. When the server came to take our order, I asked if they could make a plain chicken breast with NO seasonings, especially pepper,or were they marinated? Server checked and said they were not marinated and that they could prepare it w/o any pepper. Great! I ordered chicken breast, FF and Cole slaw. I repeated again "no pepper on anything please". My other 2 people ordered their food, too, with no special requests. When my food arrived, it obviously had black pepper on it, and it wasn't just grill dirt. But, to be sure, I put one black speck on my tongue to test it. It was definitely pepper. I waved the waitress over and told her it contained pepper. First she said it couldn't be,bc she told them no pepper. I said that she may have but that it definitely had pepper on it so could I have a fresh one please? She took it and left. Almost immediately a manager (I assume bc she wasn't in a uniform?) Came over and asked how things were. I told her that I had asked for there to be no pepper but it had it on it. She said Well why are you asking for no pepper anyway? Are you allergic??? I said Yes I am but I asked for it to be w/o pepper and that should have been enough to get what I needed without making a big stink about it, that I do not like to draw attention to myself in restaurants by having long convos about food allergies. She started SCOLDING ME and telling me how wrong I was for not saying the word "allergic" bc they would have been more careful to make it pepper-free! Even though I requested it, that wasn't enough! I was very uncomfortable and people were staring at us bc she raised her voice. I tried to end our talk so she would stop. She said they would make another piece and left. It got worse. Next person to arrive was a man. He too started yelling at me about how if I am allergic I MUST TELL THE STAFF, that it is MY responsibility to let them know, and that I am supposed to be more careful, etc. He was literally blaming ME for their mistake. I was very upset by this time and asked him to stop yelling at me, that it was over and was resolved. With each person, I explained that I develop hives and I go into anaphylaxis shock and I am well aware of my needs but I try to say as little as possible bc I don't want the attention and I don't like people staring at me. He left. Then he came back and started yelling that IF I were allergic to pepper I shouldn't eat the cole slaw bc it had pepper in it, too. However, it did not have any visible black pepper specks, I didn't taste any spice or heat and I was not having a reaction. Plus the waitress said it did not have any or stop me when I ordered it. I politely said "Stop yelling at me! This has been resolved, so STOP!" This was the 3rd time they yelled at me. I was very upset, anxious, heart was racing and I was sweating. Then, it happened again! The female Mgr came back and started yelling again at me! Unbelievable! People clear across the room were staring. I HAD TO YELL BACK AT HER. STOP YELLING AT ME! THIS IS ENOUGH! CANCEL MY FOOD- I DON'T WANT IT ANY MORE. Leave me alone!!! By this time, I was full-on crying and shaking. My son helped me out to the car and I sent him back in to finish eating with his Dad. I believe that I took the right action in asking for food the way I did. I just wanted a nice quiet relaxing dinner with my family. I will never go there or order from them again. This happened almost a month ago and this is the first I have told anyone what happened. It was very upsetting to me and I am still shocked at...

There's some great food at Doc Ford's, specializing in seafood items. The grouper dinners and sandwiches we tried were excellent. One of my rules of thumb is to try the menu items featured most prominently in the menu. All the grouper selections were highlighted with boxes drawn around them on the menu. They proved to be great choices. Another rule of thumb is to order whatever might be part of the name of the establishment . In this case, that would be rum, but we did not try that. Service was way, way too slow, which was not satisfactory. We visited on a Friday afternoon and every step in the process of having a restaurant meal seemed to take forever, except the initial seating, which was immediate. The place was not filled either. We saw a good number of empty tables while we were there. Our waitress seemed helpful when we saw her, but then she would disappear for long periods of time, nowhere to be seen in the dining area before she would emerge to find our table again. After our food was delivered, the grouper did not come with tartar sauce and we asked her for some. This took 15 minutes, which was ridiculous. We overheard other tables asking her where their check was or pulling her aside to ask if they could have some water. We just didn't understand why everything took forever. The reason we came here was to enjoy a meal with family and friends, which we did. The quality of the food saved the day (and my 5 star rating), but the service aspect of the operation needs improvement. We didn't think it was our waitress's fault, but most people could blame it on her. We enjoyed learning about the Doc Ford character from novels written by the same man that owns this enterprise. And we enjoy spending time enjoying our meal, but that goes too far especially when the kids reach the point where they get antsy, and the adults in our group get uncomfortable sitting so long in their seats, it's time to go, which is what we finally did. As much as we liked the time here, we also enjoyed that it...

We had a great experience here! The service was good and the food was excellent! We went all out and this is probably the most we’ve ever spent at a restaurant, but it was well worth it. We started with the crab cake app, the conch chowder, and the ceviche. The crab cakes were small, but full of crab, very little filler, and delicious. They came with jicama slaw, which was also delicious, and were on top of a kinda sweet sauce? I’m not sure what it was, but it was really good. I do wish it were on the side because my husband wasn’t the biggest fan. The conch chowder was also sooo good. I didn’t read past conch, so I didn’t expect it to be a tomato based soup, but the flavor was incredible. The conch was mostly tender and there was an abundance of it in the small cup of soup. If you’re a big fan of tomato based soups or conch, definitely try theirs! Next we tried the ceviche, which blew my mind. I had never had it before, and it couldn’t have been a better first experience. There was a lot of it for $10, I felt; enough to share across the whole table and still get plenty ourselves. The flavor was just insane. If you like cilantro, you will love their ceviche. Definitely a must-try.

For our entrees, I got the macadamia nut crusted grouper, which was incredible. It was served with a creamy coconut sauce that was very mild, buttery, and delicious. The quinoa-rice side it was served with was also cooked perfectly and well-seasoned. The grouper was tender, flaky, and delicious. My husband got the red fish bowl, which was served with rice and beans and everything was seasoned deliciously.

To finish off our meal, we split the chocolate banana bread pudding. More like a bread than a bread pudding, but it couldn’t have been better. Super rich, not too-too sweet, but amazing!

I’m a huge fan of this place and the atmosphere! We will be back if we’re ever on the...